President Thaci owes half a million euro to British Laywer Geoffrey Nice

Gazeta Express got hold of a letter that the British lawyer Sir Geoffrey Nice addressed to the Government of Kosovo, when he reveals a scandalous history involving President Hashim Thaci and his team. The letter shows the President owes almost half a million Euro for his professional engagement with the Government of Kosovo.

Sir Geoffrey Nice, was very famous after the war in Kosovo for leading the prosecution of ex-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic at the Hague Tribunal, who was facing war crimes charges during Kosovo war in 199-99. Nice left the Hague Tribunal in 2006 and later was offered by the London Review of Books to write an article about Dick Marty’s report and other allegations being made against Kosovo and its leaders at that time, including President Thaci. In his article, Nice concluded that there was “very little if anything” of substance in the Marty report and nothing supporting the allegations of organ harvesting.

Sir Geoffrey Nice’s approach was the reason why the then Kosovo Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, has decided to engage him and asked former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Petrit Selimi, to contact Nice and offer him to work for the government of Kosovo. Nice in his letter says he accepted the offer and agreed on financial terms offered by Petrit Selimi. “After a time payment of our fees ceased for no reason and we were obliged to seek payment of those fees by every courteous, businesslike and ultimately legal means at our disposal,” Nice wrote in his letter sent to the Government of Kosovo. Former Hague Tribunal prosecutor is disappointed the way he was treated by Kosovo institutions, and insists that they owe him over half a million Euro.

What is written in the letter that Nice sent to Avni Arifi, advisor to Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj:

In his letter Nice writes that he and his team reached an agreement with former prime minister Thaci for the Kosovo government could prepare a library of materials that might be of use when individuals were to be indicted by the Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecution Office. “The information was prepared on an objective basis and was to be loaded onto a Kosovo computer system once a sufficiently secure system had been constructed and commissioned,” Nice wrote revealing that the project was never implemented. He also said that he was involved as a member of the Kosovo team in negotiations in Brussels with the EU over the Law and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Specialist Chamber and over the Host State Agreement. “After a time payment of our fees ceased for no reason and we were obliged to seek payment of those fees by every courteous, businesslike and ultimately legal means at our disposal,” Nice wrote. “On many occasions – in person, face to face and in emails – the government has made clear the fees were indeed due and would be paid. But no effect. We have, I suppose, had direct conversations with Hashim Thaci on at least 3 occasions – once just the two of us and him in his Presidential Office – where he has undertaken to pay,” Nice wrote explaining that despite all the promises his fees were never paid. Nice said that they have “reached the end of the road” and warns the Government that he intends to make the position public in the very near future. From the communication it is not known how much the Government of Kosovo owes to Nice and his team, however based on the data that Nice sent to the Government, from November 2015 to July 2016, the Government was due to pay Nice 327,445.86 Euro, whereas to his associate Nevonka Tromp, 162.975.01 euro.

Nice also reveals that at Thaci’s request he assisted the writers of the Hasim Thaci’s biography, especially with the history of the organ harvesting allegations. Gazeta Express has contacted Avni Arifi to ask if the Government has answered Geoffrey Nice’s requests. Arifi said that despite the fact that he has adressed the Government, it is the President’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who should answer this issue. The President’s Office has not commented the contract, whereas Jetlir Zyberaj from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said he is not aware of this issue. /Express/